![]() Although she’d spent her life savings seeking a cure, nothing had helped. For 12 long years, she’d suffered from a disease that had caused constant bleeding. They longed to be close to the man who had captured their hearts with truth.Ī woman with a debilitating illness was among those in the crowd. The crowd had come from far and wide to see the man who had performed miracles and who had taught like they’d never before heard. An overwhelming number of people surrounded Jesus and His disciples that day. Sandwiched between those two miracles another interesting demonstration of dunamis occurs when a woman touches Jesus. In Mark 5, Scripture gives us a glimpse of God’s divine power at work through Jesus there we see our Lord rid a demon-possessed man of his burden using dunamis ( Mark 5:6-8), and He raises a dead child to life through the same power ( Mark 5:40-42). It flows from a person to give them the ability to do supernatural things, like miracles or morally excellent acts. Dunamis is used 117 times in the New Testament and has a distinct meaning apart from the other three power words.ĭunamis represents the kind of power that is an inherent force. Of those words, dunamis is the most prevalent. His reminder to them that he is the only God is further reason to believe that cutting and tattooing had a great deal to do with idol worship.What Is the Meaning of Dunamis in the Bible?įour different Greek words are used in the Bible to represent the English word power. It is by his own authority that he commands his people. God has made a statement and here grounds it in his declaration of himself. Since this was the habit of some in the land of Canaan, God saw fit to warn his people, who were prone to wander into idolatry. ![]() Whether it is a permanent tattoo or a temporary one, the prohibition in this verse seems to be concerning primarily those tattoos that identify one with a pagan false god. The Jews were given circumcision, but there is no other instance where God required or even allowed his people to disfigure their bodies. Our bodies are created by God as his temple and we are not to disfigure it for any reason. Breaking Down the Key Parts of Leviticus 19:28 They should consider what a much older version of themselves might want to say about it. Also, Christians should ask themselves if they are feeling a lack of identity and “specialness” before they go and do a potentially foolish thing that adds a permanent mark. While it may be a conscience issue, depending on the nature of the tattoo itself, this verse should carry at least some weight. We should also think twice before getting any kind of tattoo. The Christian should take seriously the prohibition on cutting as it is simply self-harm and always associated with the demonic. There are a few instances in Scripture where tattooing or engraving on the skin is seen in a positive light, but those may be purely symbolic references for identifying God’s people while they are in exile. Here it refers to cutting “for the dead.” This is done still today in Eastern cultures in the process of mourning the dead.īesides the branding of slaves and property, tattooing seemed to almost always identify one with gods, goddesses, and cult practices. God’s warnings largely regarded practices of those cultures, because God knew that the Israelites would be tempted to appropriate the cultures which they were supposed to be replacing.Ĭutting seems to have been the demonic practice of shedding one’s own blood in order to appease the gods of those cultures, particularly for the sake of fertility. I am the Lord.” Explanation and Commentary of Leviticus 19:28Ĭutting and tattooing for the dead were religious-cultural norms in the pagan cultures under God’s judgment in the promised land. “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.
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